XIENG KHOUANG OVERVIEW
Located: Northeastern Laos (Northern Heritage)
Total area: 15,830 square kilometers
07 Districts: Phonsavanh, Phaxay, Phoukoot, Kham, Nong Het, Khoun & Mokmai
Capital of the province: Phonsavanh
By virtue of the Franco-Siamese treaty of 3 October 1893, signed in Bangkok and ratified by the French Parliament in January 1894, Laos became the fifth province of French Indochina. Laos was a protectorate like Tonkin (north Vietnam), Annam (central Vietnam) and Cambodia, but Cochin-china (south Vietnam) was the only province with the status of colony. Laos entered the Union of French Indochina from a position of disadvantage, with no defined status of its own but often thought of as an extension of Vietnam. Located 400 kilometers northeast of Vientiane Capital, Xieng Khouang Province has a population of 249,000 spread over an approximate area of.....
XIENG KHOUANG HISTORY
Xieng Khouang and the enigmatic Plain of Jars make up one of the most important sites for studying the late prehistory of mainland Southeast Asia. While the ancient civilization that constructed the jars was flourishing, advances in agricultural production, the manufacturing of metals, and the organization of long-distance overland trade between India and China were also rapidly transforming local society and setting the stage for urbanization across the region. Mortuary practices associated with the jars consisting of both cremation and secondary burial suggest a highly-evolved local tradition of ritual, symbolism and metaphysics which persisted.....